Accepting payments online can be challenging for African businesses. Many global payment platforms (like Stripe or PayPal) have limited availability or support in Africa.

For example, Stripe’s services in African countries (including South Africa) are still very limited, which leaves local entrepreneurs searching for reliable alternatives.

This guide will show you how to accept payments online on your website or through a Telegram membership bot using InviteMember, Paystack – a leading African payment gateway – and Access Codes for manual payments, so you can automate your membership business in South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and beyond.

The Challenge of Accepting Online Payments in Africa

Africa’s online payment landscape is unique. Traditional global gateways often don’t support local currencies or banks, and setting up merchant accounts can be difficult for African-based businesses.

Paystack has emerged as a popular solution tailored for the continent. Paystack is an online payment provider that helps businesses in Africa get paid by anyone, anywhere in the world.

InviteMember payment integration works in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa (and possibly oyher countries across Africa in the future). With Paystack, even a small startup in South Africa can accept both local and international online payments. The platform supports payouts in local African currencies or even USD for convenience.

One checkout, many options for Africa

Paystack’s big advantage is its support for local payment methods. Your customers can pay using credit/debit cards, bank accounts, direct bank transfers, USSD codes, QR codes, mobile money wallets, and more.

For instance, a customer in Kenya could use M-Pesa or a mobile money account, while another in Nigeria might use a bank transfer or USSD short code – all through the same Paystack checkout. This flexibility makes it much easier to accept payments online in Africa compared to relying on traditional providers that may not offer these local options.

InviteMember + Paystack: An Easy Way to Accept Payments Online

InviteMember lets you sell memberships and digital access via a Telegram bot or your site. Connect Paystack to accept payments online in South Africa (and Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya) using local methods—cards, bank accounts/transfers, USSD, QR, and mobile money.

Key limits and settings

  • One‑time payments only (no recurring yet).
  • Price plans in NGN, GHS, KES, ZAR, or USD. If you use another currency, the Paystack option won’t appear.

Next, we’ll show how to accept online payments on your subscription website and bot by connecting Paystack to InviteMember in a few quick steps.

Quick setup: Connect Paystack to InviteMember

  1. Create a Paystack account (free).
  2. In Paystack Settings → API Keys & Webhooks, copy your Public and Secret keys.
  3. In @InviteMemberBot → /myprojects → Payment Options, choose Paystack Test or Paystack Live, tap Connect, and paste the keys.
  4. Copy the webhook URL shown by InviteMember and paste it back in Paystack (API Keys & Webhooks → Webhook URL). Save.
  5. Create a plan in a supported currency (NGN, GHS, KES, ZAR, or USD) and make a quick test payment from your bot.

Need details or troubleshooting?

See the Help Center guide or message support.

Conclusion

InviteMember makes it easy to accept payments online in South Africa and across Africa. Connect Paystack for local cards, bank transfer, USSD/QR, and mobile money; use Access Codes for manual/offline payments anywhere.

That’s how to accept online payments on your website or Telegram bot—set it up once and start getting paid.